Urban Martial Saint

Not only is Wen’er troubled by this issue, but Ye Qing is also frustrated with it. After walking for over ten hours, there is still no end in sight, and the surrounding environment has barely changed, making them suspect they might be walking in circles.

Actually, under normal circumstances, walking for one or two hours here would make anyone puzzled. After all, this is an underground stone corridor. No matter how skilled the ancients were, how long could they possibly dig such a stone corridor? It’s utterly impossible to walk this far.

When Ye Qing and the others first entered, they were mainly trying to escape the pursuit of the Church’s assassins, so they couldn’t pay much attention to details and focused solely on fleeing. Thus, despite running for so long, they didn’t pay attention to the corridor’s condition, but were more concerned about whether the Church’s people would catch up or if they could escape the Church’s pursuit.

Now that Ye Qing has decided to go back and face the Church directly, he no longer worries about their pursuit. He starts pondering the surroundings. Indeed, after walking for over ten hours without reaching the end and with the environment unchanged, it’s unbearable for anyone. The most crucial part is that they have walked back for three hours and haven’t encountered anyone, giving the feeling of being in an endless stone corridor, possibly with only themselves inside, which is quite terrifying.

”There must be something wrong with this stone corridor!” Ye Qing furrows his brows, recalling the stone corridor outside the chamber where Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away. At that time, the corridor was similar to this one; it was circular, and the eight chambers outside could rotate. In that corridor, if you failed to notice the peculiar surroundings, you might walk endlessly without finding a way out.

The first time Ye Qing entered a tomb was when he visited the chamber where Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away. He was indeed impressed by the ancient construction. The tomb outside Bodhidharma’s chamber was created by the Demon Sect and was of such a scale. Standing inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master now, where the first Great Saint of the Taoist Sect resided for thousands of years, far surpassing Bodhidharma in strength and influence, might there be mechanisms even more bizarre than those outside Bodhidharma’s chamber?

”Could this stone corridor be circular?” Wen’er asked softly. After all, she was the daughter of the Great Lord of the South Ridge Sect. Although she hadn’t ventured into tombs much, her family were all first-rank tomb raiders. She learned somewhat about the mechanisms within these tombs from an early age.

”That’s highly possible!” Ye Qing nodded slowly, contemplating this possibility. Walking in the corridor for over ten hours without reaching the end is only conceivable if the corridor is circular.

”No, this corridor is not circular,” Fu Qingping suddenly spoke, contradicting them.

”Not circular?” Wen’er looked at Fu Qingping in surprise, asking, ”Senior Fu, if the corridor isn’t circular, how long is it? We’ve been walking for over ten hours, at least dozens of kilometers. Ancient tools were scarce; could they dig such a long corridor?”

”I don’t know,” Fu Qingping shook his head, saying, ”I only know we’ve been walking in one direction without change. Therefore, this corridor isn’t circular!”

Wen’er and Ye Qing exchanged a glance; indeed, they had been walking in one direction. But in this darkness, with no means to guide direction, if the corridor were long enough, a slight change in angle would be imperceptible.

”Master, we have indeed been walking in one direction, but that doesn’t mean our direction hasn’t changed,” Ye Qing spoke softly. ”The direction inside the corridor isn’t what’s apparent to us. A slight change in angle isn’t something we can perceive!”

”I understand!” Fu Qingping nodded, ”The direction I’m referring to is the compass directions. If there’s any angle deviation, I’d feel it. But since we entered, the angle hasn’t changed!”

”How… how do you distinguish this angle?” Wen’er couldn’t help but ask curiously. Without even a compass, how could Fu Qingping discern the angle?

”It’s not that I sensed it; it’s the Qingping Sword’s sheath telling me!” Fu Qingping said, ”The Qingping Sword’s sheath is actually magnetic, and through this magnetism, the correct direction can be felt!”

Ye Qing felt a stir in his heart. He had been wondering how Qingping Sword could disperse into thousands of small swords and then gather into a complete longsword. Hearing Fu Qingping now, he vaguely began to understand that perhaps Qingping Sword was formed by magnetically attracting materials.

”The sword sheath of Qingping Sword?” Wen’er looked at the sheath on Fu Qingping’s back, surprised, ”The sheath is also magnetic?”

”Of course, otherwise how could my Qingping Sword disperse and gather?” Fu Qingping replied, confirming Ye Qing’s speculation; that’s exactly how Qingping Sword scattered and reassembled.

”I see!” Wen’er realized, but she frowned again, whispering, ”Senior Fu, if indeed we haven’t changed direction, it means we have been walking along this path. For ten hours, how far have we gone? Is this corridor too long? What was Ghost Valley Master’s intent in constructing the tomb back in the day? Was he trying to tunnel through the entire mountain range? That’s impossible; my father told me the ancients had unique methods, but this mountain is mainly rock. Digging a corridor beneath is no easy task. Digging tens of kilometers? That’s utterly impossible.”

Fu Qingping remained silent, quite puzzled by this issue.

Seeing Ye Qing and Fu Qingping silent, Wen’er felt uneasy, asking in a trembling voice, ”Could we possibly have encountered a ghost wall?”

”Stop scaring yourself,” Ye Qing waved his hand, dismissing such nonsense. Ghost wall encounters are pure fabrications.

”Then what is going on?” Wen’er asked curiously. Even while speaking, they had walked a considerable distance without encountering anyone. Did the Church’s people really not enter? That’s impossible!

Ye Qing pondered for a while, then glanced around and suddenly tapped the nearby stone wall. The sound was dull, but in the prolonged darkness of the stone corridor, it reverberated, strongly affecting one’s psyche.

”Big brother Ye, what are you doing?” Wen’er asked softly and curiously. Ye Qing’s tapping on the stone wall made her anxious, as if something terrifying was watching them from the darkness.

”If I’m not mistaken, this stone corridor, even if we continue walking, will lead nowhere. Therefore, the mechanism should be on the stone walls on both sides!” Ye Qing said. He had previously been to the cave outside Bodhidharma’s chamber where the corridor had no end. The entrance was on the stone wall. By tapping these walls, he could judge whether there was space behind them and possibly find an exit.

Wen’er, taught by her father, understood Ye Qing’s intentions. She didn’t say more and quickly followed him, tapping the nearby stone wall for potential chambers.

However, tapping the walls on both sides revealed no sense of a chamber. As the two walked and tapped without discovery, Wen’er suddenly shouted.

”What’s the matter?” Ye Qing quickly turned to look, and Fu Qingping was also alert. In the darkness, everything could be dangerous.

”It’s nothing,” Wen’er’s voice held a happy surprise, ”Big brother Ye, it seems there’s writing on this wall!”

”What?” Ye Qing was invigorated. Finding writing meant clues. They had been trapped in the corridor all day, eager for clues leading out was their sole thought.

”Where?” Ye Qing hurriedly approached, touching where Wen’er had tapped, and indeed felt writing. Strangely, he recognized none of it, finding peculiar symbols.

Wen’er was also feeling it, similarly unable to identify the writing.

”What kind of writing is this?” Wen’er muttered, ”Could it be Oracle Bone Script? I’ve never seen this writing!”

Ye Qing frowned slightly, pondering. He sensed it wasn’t bizarre symbols, but Taoist Incantation, a language only Taoist Sect members could comprehend. Others, no matter how diligently they studied, couldn’t learn this language as it was exclusive to the Taoist Sect, akin to Buddhist Texts.

”This isn’t Oracle Bone Script; it’s Taoist Incantation!” Ye Qing whispered.

”Taoist Incantation?” Wen’er was perplexed, naturally unfamiliar with it.

Fu Qingping, with vast knowledge, brightened upon hearing this, ”Taoist Incantation? Let me take a look!”